Storm Coast
by Tonks32
Summary: Cassandra needs saving so Gideon tries to be the white knight only for him to be the one in need of saving.


Could they just get through one simple task without it going to shit? No matter what they were doing it seemed misfortune and trouble always found them. All they were supposed to do was scout the Storm Coast for any signs of the wardens. But no! They had been set upon by a damn mercenary group. Gideon was beginning to think that his mark on his hand made him severely cursed.

The ground was soft and unstable. Each time Gideon went to reposition his foot sank into an inch of mud making it very difficult to fight. His shield was getting one hell of a beating. Using his shield was all he could do to stop the oncoming blows from cracking his skull open. No matter how hard he tried, Gideon couldn't get a good momentum going to be able use his sword. He had to do something. And soon. The shield wasn't going to hold up much longer and his arm holding it was throbbing in excruciating pain.

Where the hell was Varric and his blasted beloved crossbow? Gideon grunted in response to the violent vibration of his shield as his enemy's maul pounced off the metal, knocking him off balance. The Herald took the opening. On a howl, he charged with all his might using his shield as his weapon. Gideon swung it against the man's face, used the new found footing, and whirled around with his blade. The steel slid all too easily into the tender flesh of his enemy's neck.

Grateful for the small reprieve, the herald fell to a knee hoping to catch his breath.

"Herald."

Oh for the love of… The thought trailed off when Gideon focused not on Varric, but what the dwarf was motioning to. "Shit."

Cassandra was letting out her own string of curses. She was pinned beneath the weight of the mercenary's shield pressing against her shoulder. The edge of the piece of metal was cutting into her neck and she knew if she didn't react soon, the damn thing would take her head off. But she was, as much as she hated saying the word, helpless. Her shield was gone having tumbled down the ledge of the cliff and maker knew where her sword was. Maybe if she could just get her hands free. At the moment they were latched onto the shield crushing into her, trying to counter the pressure in hopes to keep it from crushing her chest. There was a knife in her boot, but there was no way she could reach it.

Maker help me. Just as Cassandra's vision started to dim the pressure was released off her chest. She opened her eyes just in time to watch the Herald and the mercenary went over the edge of the cliff. "No!" She scrambled to her feet, a motion her body violently protested against. There was no doubt, judging by the pain in her side, that she cracked a rib or two. She pushed past the pain and crawled to look down. The cliff wasn't high up so Gideon would remain largely unharmed. It was the rapidly moving river below that was the problem. Cassandra desperately searched the roaring water. Her shield was on the bank as well as Gideon's sword except the man himself was nowhere to be found. In the few second it had taken for Cassandra to crawl to the ledge, the river had swept the Herald downstream.

"He went over!"

"Andraste's flaming sword." Varric was covering Solas's flank, firing bolts as fast as his cross bow would allow. "Go get him."

Cassandra was already climbing down the slippery slope to get down to the river bank. As she reached for Gideon's sword the ground shifted under her foot nearly sending her into the river. Cursing she pitched forward to keep that from happening, her foot didn't like that action and twisted at an angle she didn't think possible. Putting weight on it send a sharp pain up her leg making her stagger. Groaning, she pushed past the pain. There was no other choice. There was no telling how far the river had carried him. Or if he was even able to break to the surface for air. "Herald." Her voice was drowned out by the loud roar of the rapids. That didn't deter her. She screamed for Gideon relentlessly as she moved as fast as she could on her wounded foot along the bank.

Right when she was about to lose hope Cassandra caught a glint of armor. About a foot from the edge, the Herald was pinned against a rock by the force of the current. Moving closer, she could make out the stream of blood flowing from his hair line and down his face at a very alarming rate. Without thinking, Cassandra plunged into the icy river after him. The force of the weight nearly knocked her legs out from under her. Her fingers sank into the earth to keep her from being swept away.

"Gideon!"

That warrior didn't more. In fact Cassandra wasn't entirely sure he was even breathing.

Her arms were just long enough to grasp Gideon by the edge of his breast plate. The moment she twisted, her injured side protested causing her to lose her anchoring grasp on the grass. Frantic, Cassandra blindly reached out for the injured man. The current was sweeping them away and fast. She positioned the limp man in front of her, wrapping an arm loosely around his neck to keep his head a float. He weighted a ton in his heavy plated armor. Cassandra had to fight the river relentlessly from ripping Gideon from her arms. If that happened he was gone for good. Every attempt to grasp something to stop came up empty. Sweet Andraste they were going to die.

Cassandra cried out when her back connected with a wall of stone. The impact knocked the breath out of her and her grip loosened nearly losing hold of the Herald as she struggled to hold on to consciousness. Divine intervention or pure luck finally gave them a helping hand. The rock they were pinned to stretched all the way to the left bank of the river giving them the chance to climb out and not be swept further down river. Now the Seeker was faced with the daunting challenge of dragging not just herself, but the dead weight of a man, out of the crushing flow of the river.

Somehow she did it. Cassandra dropped to her hands and knees, weak and struggling to catch her breath. Gideon was still unmoving and deathly pale. She used what little energy she had left to get the unresponsive man onto his back and started on the buckles to remove his chest plate. He wasn't breathing. "C'mon. C'mon." Chanting, the seeker pressed down on his chest like she learned from a healer at some point during her training. She was trying to force water out of his lungs and replace it with air. She counted to ten, moved to tilt the man's head back, and pinched his nose to blow air into Gideon's mouth.

No response.

"Damn it." Cassandra pressed down on his chest relentlessly; forcing her body to keep moving despite the fact it wanted to give out on her. Save the Herald. That's all that mattered. He was the only one who could close the breech. And if she was being honest with herself, she was trying so desperately to save him because the thought of losing him chilled her straight to the bone.

The seeker didn't linger on the thought too long or she would lose focus. She finished another set of compressions, breathed into his mouth, and started compressions again. She was on the fifth repetition when the Herald took in a gasping breath, the shock of it catching Cassandra off guard. She barley lifted her lips from his when Gideon broke into a coughing fit. Relief brought tears to her eyes, "Breathe Gideon." She softly commanded stroking his soaking hair away from the gash on his temple. "Just keep breathing."

Gideon was trying, he really ways. The coughs shook him violently in his struggle to pull in air. Maker's breath he ached everywhere. The river hadn't been kind, tossing him around like a rag doll. The current held him down the moment he hit the water. He was sure that he was going to drown.

"Take it slow."

Gideon felt droplets of water hitting his check. He turned and was surprised that Cassandra's face was so close their noses brushed. The feel of her warmth breath washed over him like a warm blanket. "Cass…Cass…" He coughed out the seeker's name.

Cassandra grasped the soaking wet tunic at his shoulders, making no more to distance herself. If she let go or took her eyes off him even for a second she feared he would just disappear. "You sodding idiot!" She resisted the urge to knock him upside the head. "What in Thedas were you thinking? You could have been killed?"

The herald's grey eyes locked onto hers, "Are you seriously yelling at me for saving your life?"

"I had everything under control." Cassandra snarled, but had none of the heat in her voice she usually had when she was angry. She was doing everything she could to keep it from trembling.

"I beg to differ." He tried to sit up only for the seeker to push him right back down. A pain shot through his back, "Easy!"

"Don't move until Solas looks at you." He tried again and she effortless countered. "Gideon please."

He raised a scarred brow, "So you do know my name."

Cassandra rolled her eyes.

"Does it take kissing a man before you use their name?"

"I was not… I wasn't…" She let out her familiar growl, "I should have let the damn river sweep you away."

"You're hurt." Gideon lifted a hand to her bruising cheek.

The soft brush of his fingertips caused Cassandra's breath to catch in her throat. They felt incredibly warm against her cool flesh. "That's because I jumped into the damn river to save your idiotic life."

"You came in after me?" Cassandra was strong, but not strong enough to haul his weight out of the river alone. She could have drowned. Now it was Gideon's turn to be pissed off, "Are you insane? You could have gotten yourself killed."

"My life is dispensable, where yours is not."

Grey eyes narrowed, "you will not give up your life for mine."

Cassandra growled, "I am not seeing your permission, Trevelyan."

"Are they always like this?" Iron Bull asked from behind.

The question was followed by the familiar sound of Varric's laugh, "This is the seeker being nice."

The pair glared at the dwarf and spoke as one, "stay out of this Varric."

"You two just need to find a nice quite spot and fight this all out." Varric simply suggest and enjoyed the blush working across the Seeker's pale cheeks. Well wasn't this an interesting development.

When Cassandra's finger tips tightened for a moment on his shoulders, Gideon was torn between either throttling her or kissing her senseless. The last thought was a realization that left him dumbstruck. Where the hell did that come from? Maker how hard did he hit his head?

"You two can deal with The Herald of arrogance." She used all her will power and strength to push her weight onto her injured foot without showing an ounce of pain. She refused to give Gideon any satisfaction that she was hurt because of him. She would never hear the end of it. Much to her disgust, Cassandra only managed a few steps before her leg buckled sending her to her knees.

"Damn it." Pushing past his own pain, Gideon moved to her side. She tried to mask it, but he could see the pain on her face. That's how he knew she was hurt pretty bad. "Where is Solas?"

"I'm fine." Cassandra wheezed her vision graying. Now that the adrenaline was gone, she finally realized how bad of shape she was in.

"Iron Bull take her to forward camp."

"I'm fine, Herald."

This time the disgruntled noise came from him. Asking for help had to must be a foreign concept for the seeker. Gideon slipped an arm around her waist and tucked to dodge the elbow coming straight for his nose. "Oh for fade's sake Cassandra!"

She seethed through the roaring in her head, "I don't need your help."

"All right damn it." Gideon shifted away before he lost an arm. "Iron Bull get her to camp, that's an order."

"Uh…" The large Qunari eyed the seeker, "are you sure about that boss?"

"It's an order." Gideon repeated.

Cassandra's gaze snapped to the grinning Herald. That bastard. By making it an order, he knew she had no choice but to obey. She was going to kill him. Iron Bull effortlessly lifted her and she nearly blacked out. After she got to forward camp. She was going to strangle the life out of him.

Gideon left her to cool off. He met up with Solas back where he fell into the river so the mage could patch him up before heading off the forward camp himself. Gideon thought it wise not to follow just yet. He might have been achy and in need of a nice nap, but figured the quicker they find these damn documents the quicker they could get out of this raining hell hole and back to Haven.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

With all the warden documents collected, Gideon and his small party started back. All he wanted was the warmth of a fire and to find some dry clothes. Maybe find if Bull had any mead left. Or anything that would help wash away Cassandra's taste from his lips. It was clouding his mind to the point he fell back to keep to himself. This wasn't supposed to be possible. The damn woman nearly killed him the moment they met. How did that go from that to this? Of course over the last three months they had moved away from hostility to squabbling of sarcasm and annoyance. That he usually tried to push until he crossed the line and Cassandra became angry with him.

"You know scruffy." The rouge slowed his pace to talk to the warrior. "I'm one for doing whatever it takes to get the seeker riled up, but if you keep at the woman is going to throw you into a dragon pit."

Gideon rubbed the back of his neck, "I know."

"If you ask me."

"Which I'm not."

"Well I'm going to tell you anyway."

Gideon could feel the tension building in his neck. "I really wish you wouldn't."

"The reason you two are jabbering, bickering, and putting heads is because you have feelings for each other."

The herald froze, "I do not have feelings for Cassandra." Now that it was in his head, Gideon racked his brain to see if there was any truth in the accusation. Yes it was true he did value the seeker's opinion over anyone else's. And maybe he did try to seek her out at least twice a day, even if that meant he had to change is daily routine. He did find himself thinking about her outside the realm of battle. Didn't he just embark on a mission to get the seeker to smile more? A plan he usually accomplished by flustering her by flirting. Something that he enjoyed immensely. Damn it the dwarf may be right. "I don't have feelings for Cassandra."

Varric chuckled, "Do."

Gideon groaned as they began to climb one of the last step inclines to get back to camp.

"Now you might not know exactly what those feelings are, but you have them. I can also tell you that they're not one side.

Nope. There was no way Gideon was going to take the bait. The possibility, as small as it might be, still was a nice surprise. The seeker was a beautiful woman and he found her none bullshit attitude endearing. "I think you're seeing things, dwarf."

"Fine." Varric threw up his hands, "but trust me I've seen this before."

"With who?"

"Hawke and Isabella. They were at each other's throats until they took my advice and just kissed it out." Varric trudged a head leaving the Herald to his thoughts.

Well shit. Gideon ran a hand through his thick mane of hair. The sounds of camp were just a little bit of head, Gideon could see the glow of the fire and he yearned to feel its warmth. First he had to think up of an apology for a certain seeker. Somehow just saying sorry for being stupid wouldn't cut it.

Cassandra was sitting on the edge of camp with her feet dangling over the side of the cliff watching the wave's pound against the sand. She had abandoned the warmth of fire and good conversation to hopefully clear her head. Seeing Gideon going over the cliff involved a foreign emotion. Terror. Not just terror the inquisition was going to lose their Herald, but terror that he would be out of her life. That he wouldn't be around to make her smile when she didn't feel like it or infuriate her to no end. This realization confused the hell out of her. He was the Herald, a comrade, and a friend at most. She should not under any circumstances have any sort of feeling for him beyond that.

"How are the injuries?

Cassandra tensed at the Herald's voice, "they are no concern to you, Herald."

"Three broken ribs, a bruised spine, and a severally twisted foot." Gideon sat beside her, ignoring her disgruntle sigh. "I think that's cause of concern."

"There is no need to worry. Solas healed me and said I would be sore for a few days, but I can still fight." Something fell over her shoulders and reached for the hilt of her blade before realizing the Herald had covered her with a blanket.

"Are you always so twitchy?"

Cassandra chose not to answer. The blanket was nice. The rain had turned into a drizzle, but it was the mist from the ocean below that chilled her. She tugged at the blanket, drawing it tighter to her body. She glanced up from the crashing wave to the Herald noticing that he managed to find some dry clothes and a light jacket. His hair was still dripping wet, big droplets of water fell from the strands and onto the simple tunic. In the three months of their travel, Gideon had let his hair grow. Wet it fell just short of his shoulders. The ambassador snagged him to trim it stating he needed to make himself look as presentable as possible. Cassandra couldn't help but think how dashing he looked; especially accompanied by the thin beard he was growing. Scruffy, Varric's nick name fit the Herald perfectly. She just wondered when she became attracted to the scruffy look.

"Is there a reason you're bothering me, rather than getting warm by the fire?" Not that she was complaining. No matter how much he frustrated her, she was always delighted by the time they spend together. Even if she did end up yelling at him. She felt his body shift just ever so slightly so their bodies were a breath apart. The warmth of his body warmed her far more than the blanket ever could. Feeling a blush working across her face, the seeker dropped her gaze to the sea.

Gideon ignored her and pointed to the horizon before them, "Home is just that way."

Cassandra titled her head intrigued, "You never speak of it. Do you miss home?"

The Herald shrugged, "Abit."

"Will you go back after all this is done?"

"There's not much for me there. So not sure why I would." He mindlessly began to pick at the grass.

"It's your home, is it not?"

HE lifted his gaze to her questioning one. Maker he could look at those dark orbs all day. Damn it Varric was on to something. "I make home where ever I am."

"I feel the same way." Cassandra softly confessed, "After so many years tending to the divine I realized that home is what you make it. As long as I'm happy, I'm home."

"So you don't miss Nevarra?"

She shook her head, "Make no. My brother was all that kept me there. Once he was gone, so was I. My parents kept me locked up so I didn't see much of my homeland."

Gideon could hear the pain in her voice, "may I ask what happened to your brother?"

"I would prefer not to speak of Anthony."

So not Regalyan. Who was he? He tried to get Leliana to tell him, but she was true to her word and kept her mouth shut. Not that it wasn't for a lack of trying on his part. In the past three months he learned some things about the seeker and knew she held back a lot. The wall she put up made Gideon more determined to scale it. "I will say one thing about my home, I miss the sea. I always felt peaceful watching the waves come in. I would sit there for hours, most of the time making me late for my studies. Not that my parents cared."

"Are you not close?"

"I could light myself on fire and they wouldn't care."

"I'm sorry." Without realizing, Cassandra slipped her hand from the warm cocoon of the blanket and laid it over his. Gideon turned it to link fingers. She tried to ignore the warmth coiling in her stomach.

Gideon looked down at their joint hands. Her fingers were long and skinny making her hand appear small and fragile. He could feel the strength in them. The same strength he admired most about her. She wasn't a woman who backed down. She spoke her min and got things down. Cassandra was a force not to be messed with and had looks that could stop a man dead in his tracks.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you." He whispered and she withdrew her hand. Gideon instantly ached for it back, "and thank you for saving my life."

"You are welcome." She replied, "And I will not apologize for what I did. Given the situation again, I would have done the same thing."

"You know Cassandra," Gideon fought the urge to pull out his hair, "you are the most remarkable, maddening, challenge, frustrating person I've ever met."

Did he just call her remarkable? Cassandra had been called many things, mostly hard headed, stubborn, and brash. Never once had a person deemed her remarkable. "I'm sorry I make your life difficult, Herald."

"That's not…" Gideon bit his tongue. He refused to have this conversation end in bickering. "Here."

Cassandra watched the Herald take her hand, turn it palm up to pace something in the center, before closing her hand around the mysterious item. She tried to guess what it was. The item was light and the texture was unusual. Slowly, she opened her hand until the item was bared before her, "W-what is this?"

He grinned not missing the small quake in her voice, "My lady Cassandra, I do hope you've seen a flower before."

Yes but no one had ever given her one. Not that she was going to ever tell him that. The petals of the small and slightly wilted flower was the perfect shade of grey as Gideon's eyes. "I have." Damn this man! A small gesture had her heart in knots, "I do not understand your reasoning in giving it to me."

"Just think of it as a peace offering, my lady." Gideon grinned when she punched his arm, her normal reaction when he ever called her that. He knew by the slight blush that she was flattered when he used her title. "Good night Cassandra."

Her throat was too tight to talk. He couldn't know just how much a simple touch of his hand had her all twisted up inside. And he defiantly couldn't know about the feelings she seemed to have for him. Smiling, Cassandra tucked the flower into one of the pouches on her belt and turned her attention back to the sea.


End file.
